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Jun 18, 2018, 11:21 AM
#1
KILLER CIRCA 1850S MILITIA BELT PLATE!!
Saturday I wanted to get out for a while, but my options are limited this time of year. I drove down to a circa 1790-1815 house site hoping that the farmer had cut the hay. He had cut it, but he hadn’t bailed it yet, so that field was unhuntable. So I drove over to another of his farms that has a standing, but abandoned, house on it that looks like it could date to the 1830s. I call this place the buckle graveyard because all I ever find here is horse tack buckles. I have dug about two dozen horse tack buckles here, but I have never found anything good, not even an Indian Head penny.
I had only been detecting a few minutes when I got a sweet signal on the Deus, dug down about 6 inches, and pulled out a modern bullet. I thought this can’t be what I was hearing, so I checked the hole again and the sweet signal was still there. I dug a little deeper and still could not pick anything up with the pinpointer. Finally down about 13 inches, the pinpointer started going off. When I got to the target I thought it was probably a piece of junk as it was laying straight up and down and all I could see was an edge sticking up, When I pulled it out I was shocked to see a mid 19th century militia plate. I had always wanted to dig one of these. This plate now ranks pretty high on my all-time favorite finds list.
Further research shows this property on the 1856 County Atlas as belonging to W. Allen. A search of militias from the county shows William Allen as a private in Company A of the Sixth Pennsylvania Militia, which mustered in on September 13th 1862 for the defense of the State of Pennsylvania during the Antietam campaign. They marched as far east as Chambersburg, PA, encamped and awaited orders to move against the Confederates. They were mustered out on September 29th 1862. William Allen died in 1881 and the names of other local residents appear on his will as executor and witnesses. Considering these facts, and the time frame when these buckles were popular, this is almost certainly William Allen’s militia uniform belt buckle.



Here is the plate in Michael J. O'Donnell's "American Military Belt Plates"

And here it is in it's new home 

Thanks for looking and good luck out there!
Last edited by Steve in PA; Jun 18, 2018 at 11:24 AM.
Spanish Silver Totals
Cut Pieces = 20
Half Reals = 32
1 Reals = 11
2 Reales = 6
8 Reales = 1
2 Reale Cobs = 2
Other Early Silver Coins
1797 & 1803 Draped Bust Dimes
1830 Capped Bust 5 cents
1827 Capped Bust dime
1661 Hammered silver King Leopold
1697 William III 6-pence
Rev War Buttons
3rd Battalion PA, Hartley's Regiment, USA, (4) 18th Royal Irish, (2) Rattlesnake & Stars
Civil War Plates
VA Militia Cross Belt, CS Tongue, CS Wreath, VMM, US Box, Model 1851 Sword, Militia Plate w/Star
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Jun 18, 2018, 11:36 AM
#2
 Classic car lover
audemus jura nostra defendere
neque deditionem

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Jun 18, 2018, 11:36 AM
#3
 Tennessee Digger
That is one GREAT find Steve. Rare plate and I vote BANNER on this one.
"Failure is not the falling down, no no, it's the staying down"!
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Jun 18, 2018, 11:54 AM
#4
 Originally Posted by tennessee digger
That is one GREAT find Steve. Rare plate and I vote BANNER on this one.
Thanks Donnie, I appreciate the vote
Spanish Silver Totals
Cut Pieces = 20
Half Reals = 32
1 Reals = 11
2 Reales = 6
8 Reales = 1
2 Reale Cobs = 2
Other Early Silver Coins
1797 & 1803 Draped Bust Dimes
1830 Capped Bust 5 cents
1827 Capped Bust dime
1661 Hammered silver King Leopold
1697 William III 6-pence
Rev War Buttons
3rd Battalion PA, Hartley's Regiment, USA, (4) 18th Royal Irish, (2) Rattlesnake & Stars
Civil War Plates
VA Militia Cross Belt, CS Tongue, CS Wreath, VMM, US Box, Model 1851 Sword, Militia Plate w/Star
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Jun 18, 2018, 11:54 AM
#5
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Jun 18, 2018, 11:56 AM
#6
 Colonial relic hound
That's a stellar find, Steve-and you did a great job researching the provenance of it. What a thrill it must be to have recovered a completely intact militia belt plate that you know for a fact was worn by a specific soldier in the Civil War. My banner vote is in. Congratulations!
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:01 PM
#7
 Originally Posted by DownNDirty
That's a stellar find, Steve-and you did a great job researching the provenance of it. What a thrill it must be to have recovered a completely intact militia belt plate that you know for a fact was worn by a specific soldier in the Civil War. My banner vote is in. Congratulations!
Thanks for the vote D-n-D. Let me tell you the thrill was real and I'm still on Cloud 9
Spanish Silver Totals
Cut Pieces = 20
Half Reals = 32
1 Reals = 11
2 Reales = 6
8 Reales = 1
2 Reale Cobs = 2
Other Early Silver Coins
1797 & 1803 Draped Bust Dimes
1830 Capped Bust 5 cents
1827 Capped Bust dime
1661 Hammered silver King Leopold
1697 William III 6-pence
Rev War Buttons
3rd Battalion PA, Hartley's Regiment, USA, (4) 18th Royal Irish, (2) Rattlesnake & Stars
Civil War Plates
VA Militia Cross Belt, CS Tongue, CS Wreath, VMM, US Box, Model 1851 Sword, Militia Plate w/Star
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:04 PM
#8
Very nice find. I'm voting banner on this one as well. Good luck!
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:04 PM
#9
TOO BUSY TO DETECT,YOU'RE TOO BUSY!!!
'Time isn't money it's finds, unless your finds are money' 08/12/17
'No good comes from thinking about how much time we waste detecting, as wasted time is good soul time' 25/06/08
A real man thinks about detecting every 6 seconds.
'They look over their shoulder, I look to the ground' 30/09/12
We can not understand ourselves unless we understand our HISTORY.
Have pleasant times finding pleasant things. 17/01/21
I open my prezzies out of lumps of mud. 02/10/19
PMA:Positive MetalDetecting Attitude.
ONE LIFE - DETECT IT
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:04 PM
#10
 Hawks88
That is one awesome find and it looks real nice in the new home you provided for it. Congrats on a fantastic find. Someone tell me how to vote banner and I will. Thanks.
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:11 PM
#11
I voted BANNER Steve! Incredible find. Congrats, Q.
View more Tenn. Trio hunts by going to "You Tube" & typing in "Quindy Robertson".
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:23 PM
#12
 Originally Posted by GaRebel1861
Very nice find. I'm voting banner on this one as well. Good luck!
Thanks for the vote GaReb. From what I understand, this pattern was popular with pre-war southern militias.
 Originally Posted by Hawks88
That is one awesome find and it looks real nice in the new home you provided for it. Congrats on a fantastic find. Someone tell me how to vote banner and I will. Thanks.
Thank you Hawks!
 Originally Posted by VOL1266-X
I voted BANNER Steve! Incredible find. Congrats, Q.
Thanks Quindy, I thought you might like this one!
Spanish Silver Totals
Cut Pieces = 20
Half Reals = 32
1 Reals = 11
2 Reales = 6
8 Reales = 1
2 Reale Cobs = 2
Other Early Silver Coins
1797 & 1803 Draped Bust Dimes
1830 Capped Bust 5 cents
1827 Capped Bust dime
1661 Hammered silver King Leopold
1697 William III 6-pence
Rev War Buttons
3rd Battalion PA, Hartley's Regiment, USA, (4) 18th Royal Irish, (2) Rattlesnake & Stars
Civil War Plates
VA Militia Cross Belt, CS Tongue, CS Wreath, VMM, US Box, Model 1851 Sword, Militia Plate w/Star
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:32 PM
#13
 Hawks88
Hey Steve you just got my banner vote. Thanks for sharing this awesome find. We in Canada don’t get to see these type of finds very often and you just made my day. Congrats again!
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:36 PM
#14
 CS IS NEXT
Excellent job Steve!! Definetly a killer find Just got my banner vote brother!
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Jun 18, 2018, 12:37 PM
#15
Congrats on an incredible recovery! 13” is deep, but I guess in a field this time of year it is not too hard to dig, in the woods 13” is a challenge with roots and rocks. You must have been shocked when you saw the plate and not a beer can or chunk of old farm brass sheet metal. Belt plates are super rare in W PA so I can only imagine your surprise when you finally extracted it. You preserved it well. Definitely a Banner Find. My vote is in!!!!
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